


If You Replace the Working Parts, You Get a Different Machine

by CoreyWWs Really Old Stuff (CoreyWW)



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Dialogue-Only, Friends to Enemies, Gen, Mad Science, Pearl is in it too sorta, Pre-Canon, Pre-Series, Prequel, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-04-28 00:53:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5071663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoreyWW/pseuds/CoreyWWs%20Really%20Old%20Stuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A long time ago, Yellow Diamond & Rose Quartz set out to save their Homeworld only to find out they had wildly different ideas about what that would entail ...</p><p>A writing exercise composed only of dialogue. Significant conversations between Yellow Diamond and Rose Quartz over the course of their lives.</p><p>Rendered EXTREMELY non-canon as of Message Received.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If You Replace the Working Parts, You Get a Different Machine

**Author's Note:**

> A very small note (written quite a while after the original writing of this story): While I enjoyed writing this quite a bit at the time, it hasn't aged super well and, while I don't consider it bad, I think the SU fics I've written since are much stronger. So if this is your first time reading a Steven Universe fanfic written by me, please consider reading some of my other stuff first since this was an experimental piece that doesn't strongly represent my body of work.
> 
> Having said that, it was still a fun exercise to do and I hope you enjoy it.

“So what's this new project you’re so excited about, Yellow?”

“Trust me, Rose, you’re gonna flip when you see this!”

“Oh, I hope this is worth it, you’ve built it up so much.”

“Trust me, it will be. Yep, I’ve got it all figured out. Hang on, I have the blueprints somewhere ... yes, here! Check that out!”

“... oh wow ... Yellow, what is this?”

“I call it an injector. Well ... WILL call it an injector, once it’s built.”

“Heh, Yellow, you’re talking to a bit of a technological novice here, you might have to explain a bit more than that.”

“Hah! Of course, sorry, sorry. Too excited. See, here’s the way I see it. Problem: Gems aren’t developing naturally any more on Homeworld. The planet just doesn’t have enough minerals, power, it’s just not IN it anymore,  you know? So we just ... take matters into our own hands a bit. We already KNOW how Gems naturally occur, this does the same thing the planet is supposed to do, it just forces it a little bit. Draws what little minerals it needs, the machines take over the rest, makes new Gems, they emerge, BOOM, no more population crisis, Homeworld is saved, we’re the big heroes, and you and I swim in glory for the rest of our lives. Haha! Amazing? Yes, I know ...”

“...”

“What? What’s with that look? Is it ... was something wrong? Did I make a mistake?”

“No no, I don’t think so. It’s ... it’s amazing. But ... if we’re still drawing minerals from the planet ... that won’t make things worse, will it? Like you said, the planet is short on minerals already.”

“Wha- oh, no, no. Sorry, I just didn’t explain it right. The minerals they’d draw from Homeworld would be negligible. Completely negligible. Besides, it’s not like we’d even need to use injectors FOREVER. Just ... enough to get us back on our feet. What little damage it might do won’t be anything we’d have to worry about long term.”

“... well ... I don’t know, Yellow ...”

“Rose, what are you so worried about? Heh, I mean ... I don’t mean to be much of a downer but think about it: what choice do we really have?”

“... yes. Yes, you’re right. I’m- heh, I’m sorry for even saying anything, Yellow. You’re right. This is brilliant. I think ... I think you may have just saved Homeworld.”

“No, no, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We still need to get it actually built and that’s where you come in. You’re the leader. The Diamond Authority will listen to you. If you say to build these, Gems will get behind you. They’ll never listen to me, I was always the ‘creepy’ one. You’re the eye candy.”

“Nice to know you think of me as just a pretty face.”

“Pretty face and pretty ... other things, yes.”

“Pfft, Yellow, you are too funny.”

“I try. But seriously though ... I need you behind me on this. I-I can’t do this without you, Rose.”

“Yellow ... of course I’m behind you.”

“Yes. Amazing. Let’s save Homeworld ... _together_!

* * *

 

“Yellow, _Yellow_! You need to calm down!”

“I can’t believe this, I was so blind, how couldn’t I see this coming?!”

“Just stop for a minute and listen to me, Yellow. We can figure this out, just--”

“ _You were right, Rose_! You were right from the very beginning! The injectors _were_ making things worse! I was making things worse the entire time!”

“Yellow, don’t talk like that. They- they worked! It made Gems, our race is surviving--”

“ _Barely_! And the injectors drew too many minerals from the planet. I miscalculated, I was so _stupid_! If the planet ends up collapsing, it won’t MATTER how many Gems emerged. Our planet is literally HOLLOWING out and it’s _ALL MY FAULT_!”

“GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF, YELLOW! This is NOT all your fault! You were just trying to do the right thing like you always did. I’m in this too, okay? I’m the leader, I’m not leaving you alone with this, okay? You’re not alone. Do you hear me?”

“You’re three centimeters from my face, _of course I hear you_!”

“Okay, good ... Now, we’ll figure it out together. Now ... so what can we do to make Homeworld ... _not_ collapse in on us?”  
  
“Well ... we could stop using the injectors and with ... a LOT of damage control, there’s a _chance_ we could be alright.”

“How good of a chance?”

“Like fifty-fifty.”

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing I’m lucky then ...”

“Heh, at least you have confidence ... but it doesn’t matter. If we stopped using the injectors, then we’d just be right back where we started. I’d be surprised if Gems even CAN naturally occur now.”

“Well ... what about off-world?”

“What, you mean like other planets?”

“Yes, or ... I dunno, asteroids or meteorites. Is it possible injectors would work on them?

“I uh ... well, I had never even considered that but ... assuming we find plantoids with necessary minerals, it could work theoretically. I’d doubt an asteroid would be stable enough, but planets ... assuming they were viable, yes. But we’d need a space program.”

“It’s a good thing I’m talking to the most brilliant scientist in the universe, then.”

“I ... just almost destroyed our planet, I’m not the most brilliant _anything_.”  
  
“Yellow, of course you are. We just figured out a way to save our race again after only, what, a few minutes? All you had to do was calm down and we hashed it out like we always do. And trust me, this is all you. You’re the smart one. And, even though I AM the pretty one, you’re no slouch either.”

“Pfft ... cute. But I don’t deserve it, especially after this. I deserve to be shattered, not flattered.  
  
“Yellow ... everything you’ve ever done has been for Homeworld. It was just a mistake, it happens. What’s important is that we learn from it and we move on.”

“You’re ... you’re right, Rose. Thank you. I will absolutely make sure I never do _anything_ to endanger Homeworld like this ever again.”

* * *

“Did you know, Yellow?!”

“Rose, if you’ll just let me explain--”

“That planet we sent injectors to, the one that we drained everything out of ... DID YOU KNOW THAT PLANET HAD LIFE ON IT?!”  
  
“No, Rose, I didn’t.”

“Yellow, don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not--”

“YOU’RE NOT EVEN LOOKING ME IN THE EYE, YELLOW! TELL ME THE TRUTH!”

“I’m not lying! I _didn’t_ know ... I mean, not at _first_.”

“... I can’t believe it. You knew ... and you did it anyway.”

“Hey, hey, d-don’t give me that look, Rose! I ... listen ... that planet was so rich with minerals that there was virtually NO risk of Gems not developing. We’ve hit too many dead ends on barren planets as it is. And ... okay, yeah, I realized there was _perhaps_ life there after our initial assessment but it was so perfect in every other way ... I mean- what? _What was I supposed to do_?”

“ _Stop_. You were supposed to _stop_. And I NEVER want this to happen again. I don’t care WHAT you have to do, you WILL make certain there is no life on any planet that we send injectors to.”

“You’re ... you’re ordering me. You never order me to do things.”

“I never thought I’d HAVE to order you, Yellow. That planet is not sustainable now and it's all our fault. I’m not going to let us turn into killers.”

“... there was no evidence any of that life was intelligent--”

“It was _life_ , it doesn’t matter.”

“But you-- ugh. Okay, you know what, fine. You’re right, Rose. You’re right just like always. I’m wrong, you’re right, let’s just drop it.”

“Yellow, this is serious.”

“You think I don’t know that?! You really think I don’t get that?!”

“Yellow ... I don’t want to be at your throat like this, I really don’t but ... this isn’t like you at all. I mean, do you ... do you even _care_ \--”

“I care about making sure the Gem race doesn’t DIE out, Rose! I care about Homeworld, I care about the fact I _singlehandedly_ messed our planet up to the point where if we DON’T make Gems off-planet, any catastrophe on Homeworld could POTENTIALLY KILL ALL GEMS FOREVER! So _please excuse me_ if I don’t want to make a charity case of the UNIVERSE! It must be SO easy to criticize when you leave all the truly hard choices to ME!”

“... Yellow ...”

“... look. I’m sorry. I-I didn’t really mean any of that. You’re right. I know that. I’ll ... I’ll find a way. I always find a way. And I’ll find a way to make this up to you too.”

“... I know you will. I’m still your friend, Yellow. I still believe in you. You do _know_ that, right?”

“Sure, Rose ... sure ...”

* * *

“Yellow ... what is that?”

“She’s a cutie, isn’t she? I mean, I don’t usually bask in my own work but ... even without her construct, you can make out the craftsmanship. Nice and light too. See, hold it. Shiny too. Beautiful. The perfect accessory for you.”

“This... this is a Gem?”

“Not quite, Rose. Not quite. It’s a Pearl. And it’s yours.”

“Mine? I ... I’m sorry, but what exactly--”

“It’s a new species that I invented ... ah, there we go! That’s the look I was looking for. That’s PRICELESS. Oh wow, it feels good to amaze you again. I’d almost forgotten what that looks like. Well, go ahead, feel free to envy my genius.”

“This is ... alive?”

“That’s how most species tend to operate, yes. I’ve made a few already, but since as my oldest, dearest friend, you get the very first. These things are gonna be quite the hit among the rest of the Diamond Authority. White Diamond already already wants three, the weirdo ...”

“What ... exactly is your intention with this, Yellow?”

“It’s ... they’re just servants, Rose. A race of servants to make our lives easier. A little relief after so many years of ... just nothing nice, nothing beautiful. That’s what I’m most proud of, they’re not just useful, they have aesthetic value as well. You think it looks pretty _now,_ wait till it takes physical form. Ha! You’ll be happy to know they can fuse once you see--”

“So is this what you do with your time now, Yellow? You create life just to make them _slaves_?”

“Hey, _servants_. They’re _servants_. Don’t make this out to be worse than it is. I-it’s not like they’re Gems, not _really_. They’re just a fun, you know, distraction, that’s all.”

“Do you even _hear_ yourself? You’ve done something brilliant, created something that’s never existed before, and within seconds you’ve twisted it to something _vile_?”

“Of all the-- it’s a _gift_ , Rose! I did this just so I could give you a nice gift! Something beautiful, something worthy of you, JUST to show you I’m sorry for all that ... unpleasantness with that other planet, and what do you do?! You THROW it in my face! Who’s twisting _what_ here?”

“I’m not going to LET you create slaves, Yellow. I don’t care HOW you justify it, _I’m not going to let you_!”

“... well, I’ve made quite a few already. So what would you have me do, hm? Shatter them all? Give that one back, I’ll crush that one myself if you’re gonna be such a--”

“I’m still your leader, Yellow. You know I don’t like to pull rank but ... I _order_ you. Those Pearls you made are free. No Pearl will ever be a servant.”

“Oh yeah, I’m sure the rest of the Diamond Authority will--”

“I don’t CARE what the rest of the Diamond Authority thinks! I care about doing the right thing! _You used to know what that was!_ ”

“... why must you take every nice thing I do for you as some kind of _insult_?! I-- I don’t have time for this.”

“Yellow, wait! Where are you going?!”

“Oh, _what do you care_?!”

* * *

“Hello Rose ... you brought your sword, I see.”

“You know what this is about, Yellow.”

“Yes ... I do. And trust me, I haven’t been looking forward to it ...”

“I found out what you’ve been doing. You lied to me. I ordered the injectors stopped all together, and you’ve been using them anyway! On more inhabited planets too.”

“... yes. What other choice did I have? Stunt our race’s growth?”

“And that’s not all I’ve found out. The new injectors you’ve been building, the ones you said were supposed to be more ‘safe’ aren’t safe at all. They’re not using LESS minerals, they’re using MORE!”

“We needed the extra minerals for ... soldiers.”

“Soldiers for _what_? There’s no enemy that can stand against Gems.”

“Except other Gems.”

“What other Gems?!”

“... you really don’t get it yet, do you?”

“Wha-”

“Nevermind ... go on.”

“Well ... I also know about Earth. That mineral-rich planet isn’t uninhabited like you said. It has _intelligent_ life, it has civilization! I took the Warp Pad and saw it myself. You’d be destroying a beautiful planet.”

“... I know, Rose.”

“And, on top of all of that, it seems that even though I ordered you not to, Pearls seem to mysteriously find there well to members of the Diamond Authority. Who seem to be a good job ignoring my orders. It’s almost as if ... there’s been a coup.”

“... it does seem that way.”

“... those soldiers are being made to fight me, aren’t they? Me and anyone who follows me.”

“... yes.”

“... Yellow ... who exactly is leading the coup?”

“... why couldn’t you just let the injectors do their work, Rose? Just tell me. _Why did you make me have to do this to you_?”

“Yellow ... this is wrong! We can’t keep destroying other worlds!”

“There’s no other way. You KNOW there’s no other way.”

“Yellow, please, _I don’t want to hurt you._ I really don’t. I’m your friend.”

“... you know, Rose, I’ve been thinking about all of our disagreements lately ... and I realized ... all of our arguments stemmed from something you yourself suggested. Do you remember, Rose? When I was a fool and used the injectors on Homeworld, when I was panicking ... it was _you_ that suggested we use them off-world. You remember. I know you do.”

“... yes. I remember.”

“And ... the truly sad thing I didn’t want to admit for the longest time is that after that, you almost immediately absolved yourself of all responsibility. Despite all those nice words you _so wonderfully_ wove together like you always do, every single hard choice was my fault.”

“Yellow, I never told you it was you--”

“You didn’t have to tell me, I KNEW it was my fault! I knew by the look in your eyes and the tone in your voices! All those horrible choices ... choices I would never had to have made had we not gone into space. Heh ... it’s almost funny ... I wish I had it in me to laugh about it ...”

“Yellow ... I know I suggested we go into space. I wish I never did. But we have to stop. We were never supposed to destroy, we were just supposed to save ourselves and--”

“Oh, _shut up_. I can’t believe I ever used to fall for your ... your nonsense! And your arrogance! The idea that there are no hard choices, that everything can be solved if we were all just as sweet and nice like you _want_ everyone to believe _you_ are, that every life in the universe can be saved and everyone can survive without ever even harming another creature ... well, I would like nothing more than for that to be true. You can’t ... IMAGINE how much I want that. _But it’s not true_. And I think you know that too. And ... the fact that you knew that and LET me make all those hard choices and shunned me, that you just ... HAD to absolve yourself just so you could look in the mirror while I took the brunt of every single heart wrenching decision ... you ... you ...”

“Are ... are you crying, Yellow?”

“You were my only friend, Rose. _How could you do this to me_?”

“Yellow ... I never wanted to hurt you. I never wanted to hurt _anyone_.”

“... Rose ... things are about to get _bad_ for you on Homeworld. I’ve ... I’ve pretty much made certain of it. That Warp Pad to Earth? It might be a good idea for you to get lost on the other side of it for a while. Like ... ‘forever’ a while.”

“I-- Yellow, you know I’m not going to just hide. I can’t let this go on. Even if you threaten to send every soldier after me, I HAVE to fight. I have to protect every living creature.”

“... hmph ... every living creature except your best friend, I suppose?”

“Yellow ... it’s not too late. I know you’re not a bad Gem. You can stop this ...”

“I can’t. I have to do what's best for our race. For Homeworld. Even if ... even if it means I don’t recognize the thing I’ve become ... so, Rose, if you’re going to kill me, you’d better do it fast.”

“...”

“Please, Rose ... you know it would make things easier. For both of us.”

“... I can’t, Yellow. You know that.”

“... still can’t make the hard decisions. Fine. Just go. Whatever you’re going to do, just go. The others will catch on soon enough, but I’ll let you have your head start. And, whatever you decide to do, just make sure I never see you again. Because if you’re an enemy of Homeworld, the next time we meet I ... I will have to hurt you.”

“Yellow ... I just want you to know ... you were right. I should have done more. And ... even if you don’t believe me, I just want you to know I still think of you as my friend. I love you.”

“... just go. Go ... and never come back.”


End file.
